Book Review of The Thirty Nine Steps

The man-on-the-run novel, “The Thirty-Nine Steps”, written by John Buchan, talks about an ordinary man named Richard Hannay taking an extraordinary journey as a wanted criminal when Franklin Scudder, his neighbor, was murdered in his apartment. Richard Hannay, a retired mining engineer living in London, met his neighbor Franklin Scudder, a freelance spy. Hannay sheltered Scudder into his flat from his enemies. Unfortunately, Scudder was murdered and left a notebook. Knowing he might be mistaken for a murderer, Hanny flees London for Scotland. To avoid being caught, Hannay disguised himself as a milkman to escape to the train station. On the way, he read Scudder’s notebook and discovered that Germans planned to launch an attack on Prime Minister Karoldies. While running away, Hannay struggled through hardships like being chased by the police and Black Stone, a group of German spies, getting locked into a jail cell, or almost falling off a cliff in his car. Hannay was able to escape dangerous situations by disguising himself into different kinds of individuals, being calm, and making an immediate reaction with the existing resources. Ultimately, Hannay was back to London and met a person working in Foreign Office, and at that time the Greek Prime Minister was assassinated. Together Hannay and this Foreign officer deduced that the “thirty-nine steps' ' actually was the number of steps descending from a house to an escape yacht waiting in port. At the end, Hannay solved the mysterious death of Scudder, and stopped the German Spies’ escape. To fully understand this book, one should examine the character of Richard Hannay and think why Hannay is able to escape every risk and problem. Three reasons could explain: Make use of skills and knowledge, Bravery and Courage, and Patriotism and Heroism. 

Quick thinking and prompt reactions, along with specific knowledge and skills, are crucial for people to escape danger and succeed in their missions. Quick reactions involve an individual,  within a limited time under pressure, coming up with a solution by utilizing available existing resources and knowledge, evaluating possible events and outcomes, and selecting the best plan with logical thinking that suits the current situations. Hannay encountered countless dangerous situations like being regarded as a murder, being chased by spies and police, being captured and locked in the cottage, facing hunger and thirst, and needing to break the cipher. To escape from the dangers, Hannay disguised himself as a milkman to escape the chase, changed himself as a workman to fool the police, made a bomb to get out of the jail, run on foot, or convinced others to help him. After Scudder is murdered in his apartment, Hannay is mistakenly viewed as a criminal and chased by both spies and the police, leaving him no choices but beginning his man-on-the-run adventure. Throughout his adventure, Hannay’s quick thinking and reactions prevent him from immediate capture as he intelligently disguises himself as a milkman, blending in with his environment. Moreover, although Hannay endures hunger and thirst, his resourcefulness and negotiation skills enable him to persuade others, like the milkman, workman, and innkeeper, to assist him. Also, with remarkable knowledge and athleticism, Hannay makes a bomb, deciphers a code, and manages to run many miles on foot. The author writes the details of how Hannany escaped from dangers to inform readers the problems and risks they might encounter in real life, suggesting readers that when facing major problems, people have to be calm and quickly make a plan in their heads, and make use of specific knowledge and skills. Besides reacting swiftly and devising solutions, people need specialized knowledge, negotiation skills, and athleticism, to successfully escape from life-and-death situations.

Bravery and courage engage a person to confront or expose himself to the rivals, as many might stay away from life-and-death situations. Bravery is the ability to confront fear or danger without hesitations or overthinking the consequences. Courage goes a step further; courage is about acting despite understanding the risks and potential lesses but still makes a conscious choice to face hardship with strength. Throughout the run-away journey, Hannay not only faces but also accepts the risks without hesitation. Hannay runs against the police and confronts the German spies, using the fisherman's identity to confront the German spies and observe them in helping the British Government get the information back, jumping off the train or making a bomb to blow a house in order to escape from the German spies. Reading from Scudder’s notebook, Hannay discovered that German spies threatened his country. Instead of handing the notebook over to the police, Hannay courageously accepts the risks without hesitation and takes on the challenges of catching the German spies himself. In addition, most people would be too frightened to create a bomb, fearing death from an explosion. However, Hannay demonstrates courage by making the bomb to escape, fully aware it might endanger his life. Likewise, Hannay lacked any special training as a spy. He is just an ordinary British citizen. Yet, Hannay displays remarkable bravery by risking his life to confront the conspirators and expose the German spies, all to protect his country. Bravery and courage involve being fearless and willing to take risks, serving as an inspiring force in the pursuit of justice and truth. 

Patriotism and Heroism, deeply embedded in a citizen’s mind and spirit, motivate the citizen to take action in decreasing the likelihood of conflict and potential harm for his country. Patriotism entails a deep affection, attachment, and strong pride a person feels for his country, while heroism showcases courage, bravery and selflessness, with a willingness to risk personal safety, or even sacrifice himself, for the country’s greater good. Hannay saw that the Black Stone, the name of the group of German spies, was trying to steal the secret naval defense plans, which would harm Great Britain. Therefore, he was willing to take any risk in order to protect his country by stopping the German Spies from going back to Germany so that the naval defense plans would not be known to the German Government. His action saved Great Britain. Hannay exemplifies patriotism as an ordinary citizen of Great Britain, which drives him to fulfill his social duty by safeguarding his country. Although he understands immense danger is right in front of him, he is still willing to face it. He could have left the challenging situations to the authorities, but his patriotism leads him to give up his luxury, suffer from running, being wanted and chased, just for the sake of protecting his own country. He did everything he could to stop the Black Stone from taking the information. He was willing to trade his life for the protection of his country. What Hannay does is “sacrifice the small self, personal interests, to achieve the big self, the country’s greater good. ” Additionally, Hannay embodies heroism, similar to Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible, James Bond in 007, Batman who saves the city, or Superman who rescues humans and the Earth.  Those characters in fictional movies are heroes saving many lives and displaying goodness and strong morals. They take great deal of bravery actions and always put notion’s or others’ welfare and interest first before his own peril. Hannay’s patriotism and heroism encourages readers to bravely confront dangers, never give up during difficulties, and make righteous choices to protect the country and other citizens. 

The Thirty Nine Steps is an intriguing man-on-the-run novel involving a man Richard Hannay who finds himself on the run, chased by both the police and the German spies but saved the country from a national crisis. Hannay encounters many risks and problems during the run-away journey, but his adequate knowledge and skills, bravery and courage, and patriotism and heroism lead him not only smoothly escape from the dangerous situations but also rescues his country from being harmed. Hannay successfully escapes the threatening crisis through his quick thinking, immediate responses, negotiation and disguise skills, and effective use of available resources around him. Hannay is brave and courageous to confront the risks and life-and death situations without hesitation, which act as an inspiring drive to look for justice and truth about his neighbor Scudder’s murder crime, even save his country. Hannay’s sense of patriotism drove him to save his country, embarking on a long journey to recover the naval plans from German spies. He embraced individual heroism, viewing the risk of death as his duty to protect the country and its citizens.